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TRP: Goro and Sugar (Swimming Lessons)
Setting It's around five or six in the evening where there is a quiet knock at Goro's door. Player 1: Goro, sleep-deprived and cranky from his misadventures the night before, climbs irritably off his bed and abandons his failed attempt at napping. He creeps close to the door. "Who is it?" Player 2: "It's Nixbix..... Um, Sugar," says a sweet, quiet voice on the other side of the door. "Can you, um-- you said you'd-- I found a shallow spot for swimming lessons, if you.... want to show me." Player 1: Goro stands still for a moment, then hurriedly starts undoing the half dozen locks on his door. He opens it, leans out and looks past Sugar both ways for any interlopers. "Sure. Let's do it." Player 2: Sugar stands there. Her posture is a little different today, a little sweeter and calmer than before, her back a little more straight. Her hair is tied into a loose bun. She's wearing short pants and a loose top that leaves her shoulders free-- the kind've short clothing that was easier to get in and out of the water with, so she didn't have to wear her underclothes again. She clasps Goro's hand and pulls him into her arms. There's a sharp crack, and a stomach-dropping twist. And they reappear on the beach about a mile away, down where the docks end. It's shallow here, the very edge of the city at the edge of the wall. Her face glows. She lets go. "Do you like it? Mishka showed me how to do that thing he does." Player 1: Goro staggers away, nearly losing his balance. "I, uh, god, yeah, that's great." He rubs the back of his head vigorously and gazes out over the water. "So uh, this is the place, huh?" Player 2: "Oh yeah," Sugar says. She trails into the water. She seemed extremely uncomfortable the last time, but now it's easy. Her demeanor is subtly different, somehow, more confident, like the water doesn't phase her now. She crooks a finger at him, raising her eyebrows. "You have to get in." Player 1: Goro raises an eyebrow and looks down at his fully-clothed self. He slips his shoes off. He also slides off one of the rings on his fingers and sticks it in a pocket. He makes no move to get in the water. "Uh, you show me what you can do already. So I know what to start teaching you." Player 2: She looks amused, raising her eyebrows. She lifts her feet up off the ground and floats easily. "That's all," she says, making no motion to move. She actually looks very..... comfortable in the water, for some reason. "You'll have to come in," she says. Player 1: "That's it? You look like a natural." He takes off his socks next, and nothing else. He wades a few feet into the water, pants and tunic on. "Alright. Here I am. Well, floating like that's a good start. You like being on your back? Try moving your arms like this." He gestures to show her a simple backstroke. Player 2: Her body language is.... odd. She keeps watching him from the corners of her eyes. Her mouth curls a little when he says you like being on your back? but she doesn't say anything about it. She does the breaststroke pretty easily. A little clumsily, but she's definitely swimming. "I've been practicing already," she says, flushed with victory. Then she bites her tongue and turns redder. "Mishka says I wasn't supposed to say that. He says... ah.... I was supposed to pretend I hadn't been practicing, and pretend like I was just very natural at it." Player 1: "Oh yeah? Why?" Goro wades a little deeper. He seems like he's getting slightly more comfortable being in there. Player 2: "I might actually be better than you already," she says. Again, her voice doesn't have the usual ums or uhs, no pauses or trailing off or changing the subject mid-sentence. She takes his arm and pulls him deeper. "Have you talked to Jonn, by the way?" Player 1: "I, uh..." Goro pulls his arm free and stands, now chest-deep, examining his sodden tunic. "Hang on." He wades back to waist-deep, turns toward the beach and pulls his shirt off, revealing a normal-looking torso (albeit one with an abnormally high number of knife scars). He tosses the shirt onto the shore and turns around, arms crossed tighter than ever, before making his way back to her. "Jonn. No. I haven't seen him. Don't worry, I still plan on giving him a stern talk." Player 2: "Thank you," she says, sincerely. "It's just-- you're such a nice person. You know, you... dragged me up from that pirate ship, and... you helped me right up the ladder, and... one of the other recruits told me this whole story about how you conned him, but-- I don't know what he means. You're so nice to me. " She pauses, then says, "I told my boyfriend about you." Player 1: "Ah, did you, now? That's nice." Goro doesn't meet her eyes as he swims closer to her. "Alright, what else do you want to know? You want to practice swimming on your stomach, or anything?" Player 2: "Goro--" She clasps his wrist and pulls him a little closer. "I was kidding. I didn't have a boyfriend." Her face is pink. "Sorry, I just... I was seeing if... Mishka said if I told you..." And her face turns even darker, and she stops talking. She bundles her arms around her chest and splashes over to shore. "I'm sorry, I'm cold," she says, staring at her feet. "Um, I'm actually pretty good at this already. Maybe we ought to go do something else? I'm hungry." Player 1: Goro stares after her, open-mouthed. He got his clothes wet for nothing, god damn it. "Are you sure? I didn't mean to, uh..." He trails off, not sure what he did, let alone what he meant to do. He splashes out of the water after her. "Um, sure, we could... go get something to eat." He's not hungry. He's never been less hungry in his life. He's pretty sure he'll vomit if he tries to eat. But he can pretend. Player 2: "Goro, I, ah..." She clasps his hand. "Gosh, I just... look, we're aways away from the ship and.... I keep thinking if we go back to the ship, Jonn is just going to interrupt us or be mean to me again. So maybe--" She pauses for a long moment. "Thank you for teaching me to swim," she says. She doesn't look Goro in the eyes. "Um, I'm sorry if I'm being too... forward. Mishka said I ought to act that way so you'd get it. You can tell me to go away if you want. But. Can I-- give you a kiss for helping me?" Player 1: Goro stands there, not moving or speaking, just getting redder and redder. "Can you what? Is that a... tiefling thing?" Player 2: “God, this is fucking adorable,” she says. “I can’t take it anymore. I can’t keep it up.” She reaches up to her face, feeling at the edge of her jaw like she’s looking for a seam or an edge. An ivory and gold mask appears, and she pulls it off her face. In an instant, Sugar becomes Mishka instead. He looks… slightly different than usual, his hair an ashy shade of blond-brown-ash, and his face slightly different, more freckled. Then he snaps the mask back on with a flick of his wrist, and it disappears, and it’s his usual perfect, elegant self, with soft and sleek golden hair tied into a braid. “So,” Mishka says with an enormous, shit-eating grin. “You and Nixie, huh.” Player 1: Once again, Goro stands for a very long time, not speaking. Then he bows his head and mumbles a prayer. He lifts his hand and points to the space behind Mishka. A spectral floating warhammer appears behind Mishka's head and takes a swing. Player 2: Mishka’s already gone, ducking aside as it swings past him. He tweaks Goro’s nose, slips past him, and starts sauntering up the beach back towards town. “She hasn’t been practicing. She’s still terrified of the water. It’ll probably take you ages to teach her.” Player 1: Goro storms after him. The floating hammer follows. "You motherfucker. Just what are you getting at, anyway? What do you mean, 'me and Nixie'? She did ask me to teach her to swim, for your information." Player 2: “Oh yeah,” Mishka says. “Absolutely. I believe you. Hey, I really am starving. Wanna buy me dinner and then murder me afterwards?” Player 1: Goro stops walking, suddenly realizing he's still not wearing a shirt. He turns around and scrambles back to the spot where he left it, and yanks it on hastily. "Depends. You got any spells in your repertoire that can dry me off? This is the second time in two days I've been drenched thanks to you." Player 2: Mishka snaps his fingers and he’s instantly dry, a wave of heat coming off him. He waves his hand at Goro and does it for him too. “Hey, listen. Thanks for helping Nixie with the whole Jonn thing. I might as well be honest, I can’t really touch that. Y’know— me and Han, he’s... well. . It’s his kid, not mine. I’m trying to leave Jonn alone.” He keeps sauntering up the beach. “Besides. Nixie needs to learn to defend herself. I mean, asking for help from her pals—“ and when he says that word, he eyes Goro. “—is a valid solution. But I can’t just swoop in and fix things for her.” Player 1: "Jonn... needs to be dealt with." Goro clenches his jaw hard enough to give himself a toothache. "But I don't want to mess with a co-worker's kid. Hence the stern talk." Goro scowls at Mishka and jams his Ring of Waterwalking back on, just in case. "I have no doubt Sugar can defend herself already. She probably just doesn't want to get blood stains on the deck. It'd be a lot of work to scrub it clean again." Player 2: “Eh,” Mishka says. “She can’t recognize evil in other people, god bless her. I don’t think she understands it enough.” Player 1: "She's not stupid, you know." Player 2: Mishka’s face softens a little, and he slows a bit. “I know.” Player 2: “She’s a little, ah. Different, though,” Mishka says. “Y’know. Not dumb. Just a bit different.” Player 1: "Yeah, well, me too. The world could use more people willing to be different, if you ask me. Hey, where are we going?" Player 2: “Fuck if I know,” Mishka says. “Not a docks district person. I like steak and wine. Not really big on seafood anymore, y’know, ate it too much. Know any good places for a man to eat his last meal?” Player 1: "No. But there's always the Crooked Coin." Goro points in the general direction. "It's tolerable, as long as you don't owe the owner money." Player 2: “Do you owe the owner money?” Player 1: "Not anymore." Player 2: The Crooked Coin is crowded, since it’s around the time the dock workers get off. Mishka looks odd and out of place with his fine clothing and flawless complexion. He seems totally comfortable here, though— but he’s always like that, this weird mixture of tightly wound, tense, watching, and yet completely relaxed, like he’s waiting for someone to stab him but somehow he’s gotten used to it. He does, in fact order a steak and some wine. “So hey,” he says, kicking his feet up on an empty seat. “This is killing me. I need to know. What did you want from me, the first couple times? Was it a whole “seduce me and stab me in the back later” thing or what? Maybe I’m projecting.” Player 1: Goro orders a steak, too. The urge to vomit has passed, so what the hell. "Nailed it. Seduce you and stab you in the back." Goro cuts into the meat and tries a bite. "Huh. I think they've got a new cook. Anyway, if you really want to know, after that little stunt you pulled with the poison and the antidote and whatnot, I got to thinking. This guy... seems really fucking dangerous. I don't like the idea of him running around in my city, working against me. I'd better find out more." Player 2: “Huh. Well, fair.” He eyes Goro. “Well, that’s all I wanted. I didn’t realize I could just ask and you’d tell me what you were doing.” He finishes his steak pretty quick. “Sorry for waking you up in the middle of the night, I guess,” he says Player 1: Goro waves down the waitress. "Another glass of wine for my friend. And I'll have some tea, myself." He leans across the table, closer to Mishka. "Granted, when I learned more, it wasn't anything like I expected. Plans change, as I'm sure you know." Player 2: Mishka’s eyes flicker over. He was about to get up, but Goro stops him with the wine comment. He looks like he’s considering it. “Your mother told me if I kept hanging talking to you, she was going to do some very impolite things to me,” Mishka says. “Your more violent mother, I mean. By the way, she pays the bartender at the Silverlight Inn to watch me. That’s why I go there and do nothing every night. I’m trying to show her I’m harmless.” Player 1: Goro smiles. "My mother is dead, Mishka. Yours?" Player 2: “Goro, look,” Mishka says, amused. “I don’t know why you and Ripley pretend to have a strained relationship, but I’ve looked into her will and her legal records and you are literally her heir. She’s willed the Guild to you if she dies. She did it about a week ago. So you can stop pretending you don’t get along with her.” Player 1: Goro's smile vanishes. He blinks a few times, shifts around in his chair. He raises his arm. "Ey, Thea! Make that two wines." He clears his throat. "What do you want from her? Tell me straight. I know that's real hard for you, but the sooner you explain yourself the better I can help you." Player 2: Mishka sobers up for a second. He glances outside. It’s getting very dark. He’s quiet for a moment. Then he says, “Well, I’m trying to do certain things. I like Ripley. She’s charming. I don’t want to kill her. I’d rather have her on my side. Y’know... sometimes it’s not about specific plans. Sometimes it’s just sort of....” He toys with his knife. “Gathering pieces.” And he’s quiet for another moment. “Maybe I’ll tell you the rest some other time. Maybe not in the middle of a crowded bar, huh?” Player 1: "What, you scared of eavesdroppers? I come here all the time, you don't gotta worry about these people. Hell, I think this guy's mute." Goro jerks his thumb at the pale, gloomy-looking young man at the next table over. The man gives Goro a troubled look, then takes a gulp of his cider, eyes on the table once again. Goro shrugs. "Nah, never mind. I get it. I know where you live, anyway. I could always drop by for a more private chat." He grins. "I do have to tell you a bit of good news, though. Ripley doesn't want to kill you, either." Player 2: “Really,” Mishka says, bemused. Then he’s silent. “What’d she say?” he asks, directly this time. Player 1: "You know, it's been a while. My memory's not so sharp. Hmm." Goro closes his eyes and taps the side of his head, making an overly dramatic show of trying to remember. "Something like... if you can get him on our side... get him on our side." Player 2: “Huh,” Mishka says. He looks oddly relieved for a second, then pinched. He stands up. “Well, this way was more productive than getting shot at. I gotta go. People to impersonate, cities to conquer, blueprints to steal, y’know.” Player 1: Goro reaches out and catches him by the wrist. He peers up at him, smile turning lopsided. "The blueprints. When I come by your place later, I'd love to chat about that." He releases him and leans back in his chair. "Until next time. Hey, fuck you for earlier, by the way. Motherfucker. There's nothing there, alright? With me and Sugar. So fucking cut it out. Goodnight." He picks up the glass of wine the waitress drops off and downs the whole thing in one go. Player 2: “Oh good,” Mishka says. “She keeps going on and on about you to her boyfriend, and I think the poor bastard’s getting jealous. He’ll be relieved. G’night.” And Mishka saunters out. END Category:Text Roleplay